Brazil’s Crack Epidemic

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Policy Vacuum

While some blame the aggressive drug trade spilling over from neighboring nations, others take issue with the government’s inaction, which allowed the problem to flourish.

"There is a lack of management and focus on the problem," said Ana Cecilia Roselli Marques, a psychiatrist and board member of the Brazilian Association for the Study of Alcohol and Other Drugs. "There is no real drug policy at all in Brazil."